Electrical stimulation of transcutaneous nerves is a simple and noninvasive analgesic technique. There are several known uses of this technique, including symptomatic management of acute non-malignant chronic pain. Reports in the technical literature state that use of this type of stimulation would also have antiemetic and healing effects.
Specifically, stimulation takes place by generating of current in a pulse generator which is applied between two areas of skin through contact points known as electrodes. As technical individuals will know, effective electrical stimulation must be comfortable, but strong enough to generate paraesthesia in the area of pain using frequencies of 1-250 pulses per second, and pulse duration of 50-1,000 micro seconds.
A reference publication on the subject of stimulation is the book Electrotherapy: Evidence-based Practice, Elsevier Health Sciences, editor: Tim Watson, chapter 16 by Mark Johnson “Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)”, p. 253-296, April 2008.
Bandages using TENS devices are known to the state of the art.
Some of the known devices are not portable, i.e. are assembled in such a way that electrodes placed on the patient's body are connected to large-scale electronic control modules. These units are for use when a patient is taken to a place where the electrical stimulation equipment is available, or may be placed in belts or other means to enable a patient to carry them with wires connecting to the area to be treated.
In light of this situation, in order to facilitate use without the need to move the patient to the place where the equipment is available, portable models have developed to be used by a patient anywhere. Some examples may be seen in the documents for patents WO02089911 and WO0103768, and WO2006/113801.